


Their Satanic Majesties

by dana_ohara



Category: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones
Genre: Demonic Possession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-09-21 15:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9554588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dana_ohara/pseuds/dana_ohara
Summary: Mick and Keith have been involved with black magic as long as their close group of friends had been together. What's the best way to explain black magic? A demonstration, of course!





	1. Chapter 1

"This is a bad idea, guys." A meek blonde spoke as he looked about the gloomy forest in between two of his friends with Mick and Keith leading them deeper and deeper.

"Oh lighten up, Brian, we said we would show you and that's what we're doing." The tallest of the group spoke, sounding irritated as they finally stopped and dropped their heap of books on the ground.

"Grab a book and start reading while we set the area up." Keith demanded, turning around to set his bag down and take out all the candles he brought. Charlie was quiet through it all, sitting against a tree with one of the books.

"So is this like goat sacrifice and shit, pricking your finger and voodoo dolls?" Bill teased as he took a seat with a book, hearing an overdone mocking laugh from Mick.

"Oh ha ha, real funny." The brown haired boy rolled his eyes, lighting all of them and using some black chalk to draw a large pentagram on a concrete slab that remained grounded where they remained.

"Let me guess, after we summon Satan we'll walk around this gloomy forest and tell spooky ghost stories?" The darkest haired persisted, Brian letting out a laugh as he found his comments quite comical. Even Charlie cracked a smile at it, Mick growled but kept his mouth shut. Around fifteen minutes passed before they were set, being signaled to come over to the pentagram lined with lit candles.

"Who wants to try first? This is a weather spell, so it's simple. Now, who wants to make it snow?" Mick announced, the boys staying silent until Charlie waved his hand.

"I'll try, I guess." With a sigh he stood, walking over in the center of the circle with a book Mick handed him.

"Just say the words and hold your left hand up to the sky, focus on everything you say." Keith explained, nodding.

"Go on." Charlie groaned but looked down at the page, doing as instructed and raising his hand.

"Oh, Goddess of Cold please send more snow. A blizzard would be nice, so make it as cold as ice. By the power of three, so mote it be!" The man exclaimed, waiting for a few moments with everyone standing silent. When the moments passed, Bill busted out into laughter.

"Oh big surprise, it didn't work! Let's slit the throat of some chickens, _maybe_ the 'Goddess of Cold' will answer then!" He kicked one of the candles over, waving his hands. "Or MAYBE this is all just fake!"

Suddenly a ice cold gust of wind blew, Brian's eyes widening as he slowly looked at the deep blue sky. That was when a small, gentle snowflake flew through the air before landing on Bill's cheek. That was when a barrage of cold, icy flakes whipped across the men when two dark sets of laughter came through the white powder.

"The Goddess hears all!" Mick yelled, a wicked smile stretching along his face.

"Okay, okay you're right- but we need to get out of here!" Brian used his coat to block it from getting in his face, shaking as he was absolutely terrified to find out that this stuff was entirely real. Charlie grabbed the blonde headed man, tugging him along as Bill booked it as quickly as he could manage. Keith and Mick quickly rounded up their supplies, using one of the candles as a light source. "Hurry up now!"


	2. Chapter 2

Bill sat by the fireplace, wide eyed and shaking like a leaf. What everyone saw shocked them, all except for Keith and Mick. They had been shaken deeply, yet morbid curiosity was taking over. 

"When will we be going back out?" Charlie inquired to Mick, of whom was sat on the couch with a cup of tea in his hand.

"We could do it here, it would work just as well. You know...with some risks." The man snickered behind his cup, sipping on the herbal tea. Bill slowly looked at them. 

"L-Look, count me out of this thing for tonight...I'm going to bed..." With a shaky voice, Bill spoke and left to go upstairs to his room which left Charlie and Brian in the two men's company. Brian glanced over at Mick and swallowed nervously. 

"...C-Could I give a shot at this stuff?" The man slowly asked, faltering mid sentence as he was still rather freaked out about the ordeal. 

"Of course you can, as long as we get a choice. We can actually so it to you, it's easier that way." Keith spoke up, leaning on his hand with an almost bored expression concreted on his face. "Just as long as you're fine with a little psychical contact." 

"That's fine...it won't kill me right?" Brian asked, standing and walking over to them. 

"It'll be fine, just lay down while I grab one of my books." The brown headed man stood and walked upstairs, leaving the three on their own. Brian looked at Charlie for a moment before laying down in the center of their living room beside the fireplace. It was a few moments before Mick came back with a loosely bound book with deeply yellowed pages. That was clearly a rather ancient book.

"Okay, Charlie you need to do as I tell you and if you don't do it properly, it could be dangerous." The man spoke and knelt down beside the blonde, flipping a few pages to the one he was looking for.

"You need to hold his arms down, keep them pinned to the floor and sit down on his legs. Just make sure he can't move." 

"Alright...are you sure this is all safe?" Charlie raised an eyebrow, not about to do anything if it was putting anyone at risk.

"It's fine, just hurry up. Keith you're going to cover his mouth and say it with me." 

"Gotcha." Keith nodded as Mick slid over to the side to stand above the two, of which were doing what they had been instructed. Brian was visibly freaked out but seemed to stay fairly calm, eyes closed with his breathing steadied. 

Mick took his match book and lit a candle sitting on the coffee table before beginning the little chant.

"Shadows lurking in the night, I summon you, come to us tonight. Oh I call to thee come accept my offering and come here please, so mote it be!" The pair of dark mages chanted, as they did so, Brian began to let out a deafening scream even being heard through Keith's hand. He violently thrashed with his back arching heavily off the ground with Charlie having a difficult time holding him down. They repeated it two more times with things only getting more violent when Mick took a pocket knife to his own hand, blood dripping onto the blonde's face. That was when he went still, just laying there. The candle then suddenly blew out, the fireplace going out as well which left the room dark and slowly becoming chilled. Charlie's eyes were wide and he looked at them, shaking a bit. Keith pulled his hand away to find it blood soaked, he had been bleeding out the mouth to the point they had to sit him up so he didn't choke. 

Brian slowly opened his eyes, coughing and trembling in the arms of his two friends. There was something odd now, his eyes seemed to be much lighter than before, his dark circles intensified and a few strand of white hair among his golden locks. 

"...w...what happened...?" The man weakly asked, feeling blood dripping down his face from Mick and from his mouth and nose. Mick knelt in front of him and wiped his face with his sleeve. 

"You experienced black magic for the first time, got anything to say about it?" He tilted his head with a small, yet wicked smiled. 

"I...d-don't..." He hadn't even finished his sentence when he suddenly fell unconscious, head falling backwards onto Charlie's chest. 

"We're done for tonight, get him upstairs." Keith bluntly stated, almost sounding worried as he grabbed Mick to tug him into another room. Charlie picked his now sickly friend up and went upstairs to his room. 

 

"What the hell were you thinking using that goddamn spell?!" Keith immediately yelled at him, shoving the slightly taller man a ways back. "You could have killed him!"

"But I didn't! You can't be so worried about everything, if it happens, we can fix it. If we can get him on our side, we can get rid of the other two, don't you see that this could be good for us?"

"That's not the fucking point! You are going to fix him and we're done showing them, this is your mess now, NOT mine."


	3. Chapter 3

Sounds of wind blowing hard against the windows was heard through the whole house, the blizzard having grown worse as the third day proceeded.

Brian hadn't left his room for a whole day, Charlie having to keep an eye on him as he was still coughing up copious amounts of blood. Nothing happened much of that day, Mick and Keith not even being home. It was a very slow day.

Charlie had a chair pulled up beside Brian's bed, his hand rested on the man's forehead of which was burning hot. He had to wipe the blood running from his nose multiple times, the blonde being much too weak to even sit up. It wasn't a good situation at all.

It was at night that the brown headed man was almost asleep, resting his forehead on his arm with the other hand resting on Brian's chest. As he was almost dozed off entirely, he slowly came to realise that there were whispers. More specifically, the whispers of his friend.

"Occidere eos, occidere eos, occidere eos..." The man mumbled as he blankly stared up at the ceiling, the language being nothing Charlie could recognise.

"...Brian?" He groggily asked, looking over at him. A loud shattering noise was the suddenly heard followed by a strong gust of wind, shards of a mirror adjacent to the bed being smashed to pieces without anything hitting it. Charlie's eyes widened, looking at the now destroyed mirror then back at Brian, of whom had his hands over his eyes.

"Tha se skotóso, tha se skotóso, tha se skotóso..." He repeated over and over again before the brown haired man grabbed his arm to which he let out a shriek.

"O Theós na sósei eména! Let go of ME!" Brian screamed and some unseen force knocked him right off his feet, releasing his grip on his arm as he fell backwards completely. That was when Bill swung the door open, seeing what was going on.

"What the fuck is going on?!" The raven haired man yelled, going over to Charlie and trying to wake him up. "Brian, what the hell did you do?!"

"Relinquo..." He murmured, moving his hands back over his eyes as he continued to speak that word over and over again. Bill narrowed his eyes, tugging Charlie up and standing.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, but you seriously need to cool out." Bill spoke flatly, Brian slowly looking at him with a totally dead look in his eyes.

"I said get out." The blonde instructed, something being very, very off about his voice. His eyes widened and stumbled a bit, suddenly feeling very light headed but brushing it off as he hurried out of that room.

Bill heard the front door opening, quickly setting Charlie down against a wall before rushing down the stairs.

"Keith?! Mick?!" The dark haired man yelled as he finished the last three steps, seeing the two just getting inside.

"What, what's wrong?" Mick asked, raising an eyebrow as he was a bit confused now.

"Brian, there's something wrong with Brian and he's gone and knocked Charlie out. That mirror in his room is shattered and nothing hit it, I don't know what happened." He shakily explained, Keith's eyes widening and bolting right past him mid sentence.

The bedroom door opened and Keith ran to the bed, grabbing 'Brian' by his shirt collar.

"Brian, explain yourself, now." He lowly spoke as he drew him a bit closer to his face, the blonde slowly opening his eyes. There was no response for a moment as his light eyes went from full of terror to something almost inhuman.

"I didn't do anything." Brian stated flatly, a small and almost innocent smile forming on his face. "Although...I could do something if you don't get back out there with those two friends of yours. Be a shame if something...hmm, fell on them?"

It took a moment for Keith to realize what he was talking about. The chandelier in the hallway, they were standing right under it.

"I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to expel yourself from him, you aren't welcome here." The man narrowed his eyes down to his friend, only getting an uncharacteristic deep laugh from him and he slowly leaned up to his ear.

"There is no God, Keith. Best to find out now before you get your hopes up on your deathbed."

Keith's expression dropped, hearing those words from a former church attendee and choir boy. It scared him.

"I suggest you leave now, 'Brian' is pretty tired and still not feeling one hundred percent." The blonde faked a yawn and closed his eyes, letting his head drop back.

He let him go, almost in disbelief still looking him over and trying to process everything he had been saying to him. With that, Keith turned and left without daring to look at the shell of his friend.

Bill saw him coming down the stairs so he waved Mick back over from the living room.

"What happened in there? It was kind of quiet." The black haired lad asked with a slight tilt of the head, only getting a hint of a smile from him.

"He's...just tired. Mick, a word in private, now." Keith grabbed Mick's arm and pulled him into the kitchen.

"What now?" Mick groaned, until something sharply struck him in the abdomen; causing him to fall over and gasp for air as it knocked any trace of it out of him.

"You just don't get it do you?! Do you understand what the hell you did to him?!" Keith didn't hesitate yelling at him, reaching his hands into his own hair as he tugged on it while pacing back and forth.

"What the hell do you mean?! You said he was fine!" The man managed to speak as he shakily sat up, an arm around where Keith had uppercut him.

"He's not, he's not! He threatened to kill you and Bill, he knocked Charlie out! That's not Brian, I don't know what the hell it is!"

"Cool out, cool out! We'll fix this, if it's what I'm thinking it is, then we could still help him."

"You had better be very sure about this or the next person to be sacrificed to Satan will be you!" Keith pointed right at him, a dead serious look in his eyes before Bill came in.

"Sorry to interrupt you two fighting like a married couple but one of the chains on the chandelier just broke." He held out the very chain that had broke and let Mick take it.

"Thanks, man...Ill get someone to fix it sometime soon."

"Sure." Bill rolled his eyes and turned to walk back, stopping in the doorway.

"Uh...guys, come here and look at this." He waved them over, the boys coming over to see shards of glass falling and shattering against the hard wood floors. Charlie was at the top of the narrow spiral staircase, looking very dazed and confused as he watched another cup from their china cabinet fall and shatter into pieces. 

Mick watched for a few moments before walking upstairs very calmly, walking past Charlie to Brian's room. When he turned to his bed, all he saw was a head of golden hair and the blankets pulled up over his face. There was noise as well...sobbing. It didn't sound distorted or like there was something off, it sounded of pain and sorrow.

"...Brian...?" Mick gently asked and walked over to him, tugging the blankets to show the tear soaked face of his friend. They weren't normal tears, they were tinted a Payne grey and cloudy. Beside him was a bloody mess of the sheets and the floor, he was still coughing up blood and it was dried on his face.

The man pulled down his sleeve and held the back of his head gently so it was still, wiping the blood and tears away as he tried to muster words.

"I-I...I'm s-s-sorry..." Was all he could manage to choke out, his voice hoarse and weak. The poor kid couldn't even stop shaking. Mick was starting to feel bad for what he'd done, offering him up like some goat for a voodoo ritual. That was supposed to be his friend, and he screwed him over.

"I should be the one apologizing, I'll fix you, okay?" The man tried to reassure him, a small smile formed on his lips as the blonde slowly looked at him.

"...no you aren't, you're just going to kill him, aren't you? Try to get in the good graces of those Gods you believe in so much."

"W-What?"

"You heard me, make everything right by killing your friend after what you did was to blame. You don't care about him, none of you do. But me? Now I care about him to make up for all the fuck up he's got as friends."

Mick was silent, staring at him wide eyed as his lips parted slightly in shock.

"Oh and let's not forget your little boyfriend, Keith, man what a lucky guy you are."

"We aren't dating, we're just friends."

"The closest this kid has to friends are those two guys, Bill and Charlie. They actually seem to care about him ten times more than either of you do. If Brian keeps trying to resent and expel me, things won't turn out very well for him, I'll have you know."

"Why the hell are you telling me this?!"

"Because this is a promise, if you do anything and I mean, anything at all to injure him in anyway shape or form, I'll personally put your head on a pike."

"Sounds like more of a threat, if you ask me."

"Roll the dice then, Jagger, see where you end up."

 

That was all he needed to hear, he was done. The man stood and turned, walking out with a slam of the door behind him ringing around the house. Bill was sat at the bottom step of the stairs with Keith beside him, both of them turning to look at Mick as he walked down.

"Is he alright?" The black haired man asked first, a look of worry washed over his face as he did so.

"He's fine, just leave him alone for a while." He shook his head and stepped over the pair, going outside to have a few cigarettes. Who cared about that blizzard, Mick sure as hell didn't.

The situation they were all in was going south, and it was his fault it happened it the first place. He'd done it before on two other people, both of them dying that same night.

Whatever was inside Brian was attached to him and it had no intent on letting go until his host died, something Mick wasn't going to allow.

What could he do? It hit him like a concrete block cracking in half over his head. He couldn't get it out, it already made him a wreck and practically immobile. What else was it going to do? Why would this time be different than the last?

The whole ordeal was one the Mage hadn't dealt with, one he felt like he just couldn't fix. Mick was stuck in a corner that he couldn't get out of, and before he knew it, he'd gone through every cigarette in the pack.

With a shake of the head he put his face in his hands, "Fuckin' fantastic..." He mumbled.

Bill was siting in the kitchen with a cup of steaming tea in front of him, Keith on the other side of the counter.

"You think he's alright out there?" He asked the darker haired, a cemented expression of worry.

"He'll be fine, Mick's an adult and he'll figure his own stuff out. He's going to have to, anyway."

"I'm hoping he can fix this while he can, I'm not so sure how long the actual Brian is going to last."

"...do you know this demon's name? I read that if you know a demon's name, you can control and banish it." Bill pointed out with a tilt of the head. "I'd say it's worth a shot to try and find out."


	4. Chapter 4

A few more days passed before Brian was able to get around the house without help, everyone keeping their routines going just to see how he would deal with everything in a day to day situation.

Not much happened for a week or so, but one night Mick suggested they get wasted.

Of course, everyone was down for it but Charlie had to be the voice of reason.

"Get drunk, while we have demonic Brian around...that doesn't sound smart." He pointed out, an eyebrow quirked up at his friends.

"We could have him with us at all times, give him the strongest stuff. If there's anything I know about drugs and alcohol, it's that no matter what you are, human or demon or whatever, you're useless when you're drunk." Mick explained, but the expression on the other man's face showed that he wasn't buying it.

"Or, we could put you in charge of him again." A voice from the other side of the room chimed in, everyone turning to look at the source. It was Bill. Charlie stared at him for a few moments without saying anything.

"...Am I just his caretaker now?" The man groaned, not entirely opposing the idea.

"You seem to be a pretty effective one, so now you are, yes."

"Gee, thanks, nice to know that's all I'm good for." Charlie rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

"You're good for a lot of stuff, this just happens to be the best." The chocolate haired man shrugged, hearing the lock on the front door rattling before the noise of it being unlocked followed not too long after. A bag was set down on the counter, seeing Brian walking into the living room with a cigarette between his fingers.

"Miss me?" The blonde sarcastically asked, taking a seat beside Charlie.

"Not really." Keith bluntly replied, standing to go grab any alcohol he could find just to escape any conversation with Brian.

"You up for a few drinks?" Bill asked the blonde with a tilt of the head, getting a small smile and a chuckle.

"Why would I say no to a drink?"

Bill nodded and stood, following Keith to grab a bottle of brandy and wine.

While the two were searching around the kitchen, Brian had a pill bottle and had taken two of whatever was in it which caused a red flag to raise for the older.

"Uh...what are those?"

"Preludin, some guy gave it to me some when I bought acid off him."

"Acid?! What the hell are you doing taking drugs?!" Charlie raised his voice, eyes widening as he looked at his friend- or the shell of him, only getting him rolling his eyes.

"Calm down, mum, it's fine. None of this stuff is addictive plus, you live with two drug addicts."

"I beg to differ, you had better not take any more of that tonight, at least not in front of me."

Brian didn't respond, rather grabbed a bottle of vodka from Keith when he reentered the room. Charlie took a wine glass from Bill, allowing him to pour him a glass before he went to take a seat.

"So, Brian, you're looking better." Mick stayed with eyes looking over at him from his glass of wine.

"I would assume so, I'm not coughing up blood, am I correct?"

"Don't be cheeky." Charlie nudged him as Brian threw back three shots of vodka.

"That's all I know how to be, aside from being angry so I go around killing all of you."

"Well isn't that a pleasant thought."

"Shut up, Bill." Keith looked at him, shaking his head.

"Geez, you don't take alcohol well." Bill rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest.

"All of you can shut up, alright?"

"Yeah listen to Charlie, I don't care what you have to say. Actually, I don't care what any of you have to say."

"You don't act like Brian, can't we call you something else? Like, are you a man or a woman?"

"Demons don't have a gender you thick skulled idiot, we just choose one."

"Fine then, what do you want to be called?"

"You guys are British, give me a nice British name." Brian waved his hand.

"Arthur?"

"A girl's name you idiot."

"Wait, you're a girl?" Mick asked, an eyebrow quirking upon that revelation.

"Are you going to pick a name or not?" Brian narrowed his eyes, knocking back another shot.

"How about Zara?" Bill suggested.

"No, how about Alice or Anwen?" Keith looked over at Brian, an eyebrow raised.

"How about Ruby or Clover." Charlie spoke up.

"Clover? Hm...Clover...I like that." Brian leaned back, slowly smiling and looking at Charlie. "I think we have a winner Mr Watts."

"Don't call me that."

 

The night went slow with four empty bottles of wine and vodka. Keith fell asleep with his head in Mick's lap, both passing out while heavily drunk. Bill had put on a smooth jazz record just before crashing back in his armchair and falling asleep. Brian- or, Clover, had fallen asleep in Charlie's arms, head resting on his shoulder as the older man's hand ran through his silvery gold locks. Charlie was the last person awake, staring up at the ceiling among the light breathing of his friends.

That was when a knock came at the door. A knock...at one in the morning? He couldn't answer it, Clover was asleep on him and the situation was sketchy. Whether he had someone on him or not didn't matter, he wouldn't have answered anyway.

Instead of another knock, the sound of a letter sliding under the door quietly made itself known followed by heeled footsteps outside their house leading down the street. Charlie closed his eyes, ignoring it to give a shot at falling asleep.

 

There was a loud crash that woke Charlie up, followed by screaming and yelling. He quickly shot up and rushed to the kitchen, seeing shattered glass on the ground.

Brian- Clover, was on top of Bill with hands clutching his throat as he struggled to get him off. Charlie grabbed Clover and ripped him away, knocking back into the wall with the black haired man gasping for air.

"Brian what the hell?!" He yelled at the man.

"It's Clover and he ate all the biscuits without my damn permission!"

"So you tried to strangle him?!" Charlie helped him up when the man finally had caught his breath.

"That bastard is lucky I didn't kill him!"

"No you're lucky you didn't kill him otherwise I would be calling an exorcist-" He paused, realizing how good of an idea that actually was.

"I swear to God if you even fucking think about it."

"I'm not. Now go to the living room and stay there."

Clover growled lowly but picked himself up, storming out with a vase knocking over on its own the second he left with it shattering on contact.

"Bill, I'm going to be right back so you stay here, okay?" Charlie quietly spoke, Bill nodding slowly with no words. The brown haired man turned to leave the room, seeing Clover sitting on the couch and watching the teley. He didn't seem to notice him standing there, so he quietly shifted to the front door where that letter still was.

That was odd as Mick and Keith left for work hours before yet that note was unmoved. Charlie picked it up, grabbing a letter opener off the counter and slicing it open. Inside was an address, 2120 East Hyde Avenue and a sentence under it.

'meet us there, we'll explain when you come. bring brian.'

That address was hours away, they were in Richmond and that was all the way in Liverpool. As he thought about it, that handwriting looked familiar, despite the address and sentence being written by two different people.

Not to mention, how would he be able to get him in a car for that long? The kid can't have his cookies stolen without trying to kill someone.

 

He turned the letter over, with four letters all in different handwriting on the back. P, J, G and R. That was when it hit him. 

 

Charlie walked back into the living room, taking a seat beside Clover and looking at what he was watching.

"You like Shindig, eh?" He asked, glancing over.

"It's better than the other stupid shows on right now. Radio was better than this shit, even when it first came out." Clover huffed, shaking his head.

"You really hate television."

"Well aren't you a bright spark."

"How would you like to go on a trip to Liverpool with me?" Charlie cut right to the chase, raising an eyebrow.

"...You want to go on a road trip with me, specifically to Liverpool all of the sudden. That's not sketchy at all."

"Very funny, it's a legitimate request. Bill bailed on me and I need someone to go with."

"Fine, I'll go on your stupid trip as long as you will stop hounding me for taking drugs." Clover grunted, a bit reluctant to agree to such a thing. His request made Charlie really regret asking, but be obliged.

"Alright, we leave at half past two."

"Yep..." He responded in a bored tone, turning his attention back to the tv. 

Bill left at noon to go to his parents' house and Mick couldn't be bothered with Clover at that point. Apparently he was going out of town to try and find out how to fix this whole thing, like anyone believes that. Keith was still asleep since weed made him tired, and his room was like a greenhouse for that stuff.

Clover had taken so many pills that when they actually got in the car, he passed out in the passengers seat. Charlie was pretty pleased with that, no whining or bickering for a few hours. 

While stopped at a gas station, Charlie was getting gas in his car when his silvery blonde haired companion woke up. He had been nice enough to bring a blanket and his little kangaroo coat as it was pretty cold out so he was comfortable, and he stepped out with a groan.

"I'm having a fag, you want one?" Clover asked and looked over at the brunette, taking a pack from his back pocket.

"No, actually-" He paused before putting the pump back up, before shrugging. "Hell, why not." Charlie waved his hand over and got one off his friend.

The two stood there and smoked for a solid five minutes before stubbing it and getting back in the older's vehicle.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to sleep, so wake me up when we get there..." Clover yawned and wrapped himself up in the blanket, reclining back and closing his eyes.

"Gotcha, sleep well." Charlie nodded as he started it up once more, driving out of the station they were at. The kid was out like a light, no more than two minutes before he was asleep.

 

They were twenty minutes away from the location and Charlie was still the only one awake, with Clover still fast asleep with his head resting on the car door. He couldn't help but run his hand through the locks of dulled gold hair, drawing it away when when they got to a tolling gate. The woman taking the money and opening the gate was short, with Vidal Sassoon cut red hair. Most certainly a mod, judging from the makeup and hair despite wearing a heavy overcoat.

"Where are you two boys headed?" She asked as he counted their currency, looking at the sleeping figure in the passenger's seat.

"Liverpool to meet some friends, I must say, you have very lovely hair." Charlie smiled at her as he got his change back. "What's your name?"

"Oh- why thank you, It costed me an arm and a leg to get done but I get touch ups for free from Vidal Sassoon. I'm Barbara or Crimson, really up to you." She nodded and opened the gate. "Perhaps we can meet up sometime?"

"I would like that. Nice to meet you Barbara." He waved a bit and drove out, glancing back for a moment before checking his watch. Only a few more minutes, maybe it was time to wake him up?

Charlie looked back over at him, a smile reforming on his face at how peaceful and...cute he looked. He wasn't supposed to think things like that, but he did, he saw that kid like his little brother he was supposed to take care of. The man decided to leave it until they got there.

 

Something seemed off...the location that was given to him didn't seem right, it was a run down, dingy terraced house with faded and chipped red paint, it was so old it was flaking off. A broken window and an old looking wood door. Clearly no one lived here for a long time. Someone stood outside, brown hair with a hint of red to it with a long hair style, front bangs, wearing a heavy black coat and smoking a cigarette. The man seemed to notice him, as he heard an all too familiar Liverpudlian accented voice yell, "Paul, they're here!"


	5. Chapter 5

Paul tugged the Stone inside, John following soon after into the dark room that held only one other person. The area wasn't much better, but it miraculously had electricity. 

"Okay, I'm here so explain." Charlie looked around as Paul flicked all the light switches on which dimly illuminated the room. Torn up carpet, dulled red couch and a television from the late fifties. 

"'Kay so, ye 'ave a demon on yer hands, yeah?" John asked, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall. 

"That's why you contacted me? Do you think that you could help him out?" 

"We wouldn't 'ave sent ya a letter otherwise." Paul interrupted, raising an eyebrow and looking out the window at the still sleeping Clover. "Geez, 'e doesn't look to well." 

"It's been around...a week and a half to two since it happened." The drummer, rubbed the nape of his neck as he looked out the window as well. Sounds of footsteps trailed down the stairs paired with the flipping pages of a book. 

"'Ay John, I think I found somethin' that could 'elp out." George spoke up, handing the old and worn looking book over to the slightly taller male of whom read the page he was speaking of. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at George, but showed it to Charlie.

"This could be yer solution." Was the sentence that caused a sigh of relief to escape his lips, a small smile curling upon them.

"Thank god...thank you all, really." Charlie bowed his head as a show of appreciation, John simply laughing.

"No need to thank us, man." He smiled at him, looking around and raising a hand. "'ho's up 't get rid of a demon?!" 

"We are!" The other three exclaimed in unison, raising their fists in the air.

"See, man? Ye've got a whole legion behind ya!"

His small smile grew wider upon hearing that, chuckling at them. 

"You all are very sure about this." 

"Course we are! We've gotta be 't help you people like ye." He nudged his arm lightly.

That was a loud slam was heard from the front door.

It was Clover, he'd forced the door open through the lock and the hinges practically fell off. The amount of strength in order to do that was incredibly great, almost impossible.

"Ay, Brian's 'ere. It's a full house now!" Ringo exclaimed, but he didn't bother responding. He looked absolutely pissed and like he was about to attack everyone as he walked inside. 

However, there was something seriously wrong when Clover came in, his eyes looked so dark despite being so light in colour.

"What the hell are you all doing." His voice sounded distorted, like two were speaking at once. Charlie's eyes were widened as John turned to look at him.

"Lookie 'ere, didn't expect ye to come in 'ere." John spoke with Paul and George walking on either side of him, all three of them starting the chant that was in the book that rested in John's hands. 

"I forbade thee from entering this realm of light,

As I will it so,

Ye shall be burned and tortured by the lights might

Peace beyond to the ones who are tormented by thee,

I release their pain and suffering,

Forever shall it flee,

And peace and protection be restored unto those who grieved!" The three spoke loudly, Clover visibly angering as they did so. Charlie took a few steps back, looking between him and the three men. 

That was when every single window in the room blew out and shattered loudly everywhere, blood dripping from Clover's mouth and nose. 

"Y-You...a-all really need to know when to shut the fuck up." He lowly spoke, still with the same distortion as the book suddenly caught fire in John's hands; to which he immediately dropped it. Paul's eyes widened, shoving the two beside him back as he took a few steps along with them.

"T-The hell- that should have worked..." The doe eyed man narrowed his eyes a bit at the man, of whom was standing very still. It was silent for a while, before John pulled a switchblade and lunged right at him. 

Clover didn't even react for a few moments, but rather grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face first directly into the wall very, very hard. So hard, in fact, a loud cracking noise and a shriek left the man as his nose was practically crushed; his skull cracking with it. He dropped him and looked at the two out of three still standing with widened eyes, kneeling down to pick up the blade that had fallen on the floor beside the now writhing man. 

"Do you know what they used to do in ancient Japan when you made a pinky promise to someone and didn't hold your end of the deal?" Clover asked, the question directed at Paul as he grabbed his wrist. For some reason, he couldn't pull away, he was tense and his gaze was fixated to look right into the other man's eyes.

"W-What would they do...?" Paul shakily asked, swallowing hard. The blonde slowly smiled and traced his blade along the base of his little finger before digging it right across. 

"They would cut that finger right off." 

With that, the blade went right through and sliced it clean off. A scream escaped, the blade being lodged into his shoulder as he collapsed in his place. George wasn't going to take a chance with that, when he saw that, he tried to make a mad dash for the stairs so he could jump out the window or something just to make sure he wouldn't die, but he hesitated for a mere moment when he realised he couldn't just leave Ringo behind. 

It was too late for that, something hard hit him right in the side of the head while he was lost in his own mind. Something sharp. The end of a hammer, one Clover had picked up off the floor that was left behind during renovations so many years ago. George knocked his head off a table on his way to the ground, blood pouring out of his head and falling unconscious. Ringo was backed into a corner, shaking as the blonde turned to look at him. 

Clover walked over to him, staring for a moment before smiling and kissing his cheek. 

"Every event needs a witness." He whispered and reached up, dragging his nails down his face before turning around to look at what he'd done. Charlie couldn't believe what just happened, what just happened was something he wouldn't have ever imagined. 

Paul and John weren't conscious anymore, they just laid there with there chests just faintly rising and falling to show they still had some life left. Until Clover walked over to Paul and rested his foot on his rib cage, slowly stepping down with a handful of cracks and pops following as he crushed it down. All he did was let out were wheezes and groans, before he pulled away to walk over to John. 

Three swift kicks to the side of his head were all he needed to satisfy his taste, turning and huffing.

"If only I had a gun...a bit boring without one." Clover sighed with a shake of the head, looking at Charlie. "You can drive me home now, it's become boring here."

Charlie's mouth was slightly agape, unable to grasp what he'd just witnessed. When he turned to look at Clover, he shuddered and, in an almost scared manner, nodded with widened eyes. 

The blonde was out the door first, the other following close behind out to his car. Their car ride back to Richmond was silent, Clover just blankly staring out the window and not uttering a single word; not even a noise. 

Charlie had the radio on to compensate for the silence, seeing as he was scared enough and silence would likely only make it worse. 

When they got to the tolling booth, Barbara wasn't there. Rather another older, a bit disheveled looking woman with a surprisingly cheery expression considering the temperature and her appearance. 

"Ye boys headin' out?" She asked in her very Leeds-esque accent as she counted their change, about to open the gate for him when she took notice to Clover. 

"'re ye alright, young man?" The woman blinked, Charlie only just then taking notice to his nose and mouth pouring blood once more. Clover simply glanced down at himself, still being blood spattered and all; yet he laughed and looked at the woman.

"You think this is blood? I just got back from a food fight, this is cherry syrup that someone splattered on me, it just got lodged up my nose I guess." He smiled, wiping it away.

"Oh, alright 'hen. Ye 'wo boys 'ave a nice night 'ow." She chuckled and nodded, handing Charlie the left over change and opening the gate for him. The man cracked a small smiled and drove off, looking over at the blonde.

"What the hell was that?!" 

"What was what, you want to be sent to prison for attempted murder?" 

"You just lied to her- and you had a smile on your face doing it!"

"Wow, hang me, I lied to someone." Clover rolled his eyes, arm folded over his chest with his gaze fixated outside at the passing scenery. Among the area, when they drove along a bridge that ran over water, there was a sound and a flash of light. The noise was a few constant beeps, but it faded out when they were no longer on the elevated surface. 

Charlie had to shrug it off, there was nothing else he could do. 

 

They had finally pulled up to their house, Clover getting out first and slamming the door behind him before Charlie even had a chance to shut the car down. He got out after him, locking it up and walking to the front door which was already open thanks to the other man. When he did get in, he noticed a sleeping form on the couch in front of the television. 

More specifically, Bill, he'd fallen asleep while watching BBC news channel. That was when he realised how late it was. 

The two had gotten back to the house at around half past one in the morning, and now Clover disappeared upstairs to probably take a shower as to wash the blood off. 

"Took you two long enough." A voice spoke from the bottom of the stairs, the voice belonging to Mick. 

"We had some...issues getting there and back. It's all fine now." Charlie blatantly lied, he couldn't just outright say Clover went ballistic and probably murdered three of their mutual friends. He couldn't lie, not to anyone. If he were to have to tell a convincing lie to save his life, he'd die, that's how awful he was at lying.

"Well, how do I put this...Charlie, I know you're lying. What really happened?" 

"Dear lord...I...I'll tell you in the morning, okay? I need to process everything that happened, and none of it was good." He shook his head, leaning down closer to Mick's ear and whispering, "I think he's getting stronger. A lot stronger..."

Mick pursed his lips tightly, swallowing thickly before nodding.

"We'll deal with this tomorrow, okay? Just...just get some rest and we can talk in the morning." 

Charlie just slowly nodded and turned, walking up the narrow spiral stairs and disappearing into his room with the close of a door. The last man awake stood and walked to the basement, turning the light on to show a large rust coloured pentagram on the floor surrounded by unlit candles. With a sigh, he knelt down and pulled out his match book before lighting all of them.

"I have some sacrificing to do..."


	6. Chapter 6

Everything was a mess, the house had been trashed more times than anyone could count on their hands and it was all because of Clover. Charlie had stopped keeping track of him, opting to spend time with Barbara of whom they had much in common with. Bill was left in charge of him, that is, until he came down with a chronic illness that only arose after he had to look after Clover. Mick and Keith were trying to convince them to kick him out of their house, but the two just wouldn't have it. 

Surprisingly, three days out of the week were calm, scarily so. On the third day, Charlie was understandably worried. So, he went to look around for him, being led to the locked bathroom with the sink running. 

"Brian...?" He spoke up behind the closed door, rattling the door knob a bit before hearing a loud groan.

"P-Piss off..." Clover spoke with that same odd doubling of voices, but he sounded so weak. Charlie wasn't going to go away, reaching up for the key the was on the door frame and unlocking it. Upon opening the door, he physically repulsed a bit at the sight. Clover had pulled up a chair to the sink, which had dried and fresh blood being dragged down the drain along with clumps of his already practically white hair. The outgrown golden locks now so dull, you would think he washed his hair with wax, it was dry straw by then. His hands were clutching onto his hair, blood dripping from his mouth that stained his teeth and left him shaking violently. 

"Oh- oh my god, Brian-" 

"D-Do NOT c-call me that!" The male screeched, voice gradually becoming weaker and more like Brian's voice once more. Whatever was going on, Brian wasn't going to be lasting too long. 

"Clover, you need to get to a hospital or you and Brian are going to die." Charlie pleaded with him, grabbing a hand towel off the rack and tugging him a bit closer before trying to wipe the blood away. 

"I-I-I d-don't b-bloody...c-care..." Clover lowly spoke, trying to pull away but being much too weak to really move at all. A loud knocking came at the front door, Keith yelling to everyone he would get it. When he did open the door, the dulled blonde suddenly screamed and knocked the chair over backing away. 

"G-Get h-her out, get her o-out, GET H-HER OUT!" He repeatedly shrieked, throwing his hands up to his hair; practically ripping chunks out with tears starting to run down his face. Charlie was shocked by what was going on, quickly looking down to see who came. It was Barbara. She looked up at him, giving him a smile and a wave. 

"Hey, honey, u-uh...I'll be down in a moment!" Charlie flashed her a smile, rushing back into the bathroom with the door slamming behind him. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"S-She's evil- s-she's using y-y-you...t-to g-get to m-me!" Clover yelled at him, shaking his head. "M-Make her leave, make her leave..." 

"Clover you're being fucking ridiculous, first you put Bill in the hospital, you wreck the house and now you're acting like a lunatic over a girl I've been seeing for all of ten days?!" 

"Y-You don't f-fucking get it! Why c-can't you j-just listen to m-m-me for two seconds?!" 

"I'm not listening to you because you're talking like you belong in an institution!" 

Clover was visibly shaking, the light-bulb in the overhead light exploding and the mirror shattering out of no where with the door swinging open. 

"G-Get...t-the fuck out..." He weakly said, head resting back on the bath tub edge and hands resting on the top of his head. 

Charlie stared at him for a few moments, the shards on glass being strung through his hair as he stood up and turned; walking out without a word.


	7. Chapter 7

Charlie was becoming suspicious of Barbara ever since Clover had gotten so bent out of shape when she came inside, but there was nothing to suggest there was anything amiss. She was fond of jazz music, the blues and her therapy was makeup and painting, she was perfectly harmless...wasn't she?

It was a Friday, Clover and him were home alone since Bill was too worried about contracting his illness once again if he stayed there with them, so he was living with his partner. Mick and Keith hadn't bothered to tell them where they were doing, so it probably was incriminating or just useless.

They sat watching a movie, the younger of the two having gotten somewhat better from his weakened state that he'd walked in on, though his hair had started falling out at a rapid rate which didn't please him. Charlie had been more and more hesitant to have anyone over at all, but he didn't tell Clover he had invited Barbara over to see if they could talk and settle whatever had been going on. Before that happened, however, Clover stuck up a conversation, something awfully rare.

"Charlie, what are your feelings towards this boy? You seem to care a lot about him, more than a friend or caretaker." He spoke, but there was a very different tone to his voice, it was much more effeminate than it generally was.

"Uh...I'm his best friend, of course I care about him." Charlie mumbled, not knowing exactly how to answer such a question without making it sound odd. Sure, perhaps he did like him just a tad more than a friend, but it was so minuscule, that it hardly crossed his mind.

"Don't you find it a little odd the first person you helped in that little fender bender on the highway was Brian? Bill and Keith were in the car, yet you dragged him out before them- now why is that?" Clover persisted, shifting closer and staring at him right in the eyes. Charlie was at a loss for words, looking back into the dulled gaze of his friend, or what was left.

"I...was just worried-"

"Charlie, a lady knows when a man fancies someone, and trust me, you love this boy and I don't expect you to change how you feel for some social stigma."

"You're a woman?"

"It's a bit obvious don't you think, I didn't want to tell the others 'cos I know they'd get all stupid about it." He paused for a moment and stood up, stretching his joints and turning to the man still sitting down. "Care for a bit of brandy?"

Charlie gave a tight lipped smile, having forgotten about the little date he'd set up with his girlfriend as he nodded.

"Yes, that sounds nice..." He agreed to the offer before leaning back, watching him walk to the kitchen and retrieve the substance. While he was gone, Charlie took a moment or so to think about what the younger had said, perhaps he truly did **love** him, but how was he to say it? Sure he'd had a fling or two with Dave Davies and another fellow, but he always dated women, why would he be interested in him? When he came back in, he took a moment to take in his appearance which made him saddened, taking the glass from him. A small gulp was taken from it, a sigh of content leaving his lips as he watched Clover down the entire thing. Yeah, just like the real Brian, able to take as much alcohol as he wants. He drank his slower, Clover having already gone through two glasses as he now obviously drunk. The other couldn't handle his alcohol as well as he could, so he was smashed by the time he'd finished his first glass.

Clover was curled up by his side like a kitten, resembling one even more as Charlie ran a hand through his hair as if he were just that. He pressed into his touch, the man moving his head to rest on his chest. It was quiet for a few moments as they seemed to just enjoy being so close to one another, before the elder's fingertips flirted his jaw and ran to his chin of which was gently tilted up to meet his gaze. For a brief moment, Charlie was lost in his lightened grey gaze, allowing himself to overtake his friend's lips as his eyes shut. The same words repeated in his head, 'this is wrong', but at the same time, all he could think was if something was so wrong and awful, why did it feel so _right_?

Clover accepted it, he didn't pull away at all, not even a second of hesitation on his part. It wasn't short either, or deepened gradually as he pulled him closer and allowed his hand to slip up into the back of his dulled locks of hair.

No, it _was_ right, that little voice was entirely wrong- speaking on part of the mass majority of people at the time. What he was doing was perfectly alright, and he was totally happy to do it. Clover had experienced many things, but one thing she hadn't was the feeling of love, and that was exactly what she felt at that moment. She couldn't tell if it was Brian or her that was feeling such a thing, but it was new and addictive. Even though she was so thrilled to be experiencing such a thing, a piece of her was realizing what she was doing was wrong, deeply so even for her.

Lucky her, she didn't even have to pull away, someone else did that for her. Barbara, and that was the reason an abrupt pain suddenly smashed through her nerves with a loud groan leaving him.

"F-Fuck-"

"You bloody whore, what the fuck do ya think yer doing snogging my boyfriend you queer!" She shrieked loudly at the man, of whom had his arm locked around his arm.

"Fuck off y-you stupid cunt..."

"You're the stupid cunt Zora! You knew I was going to be here- you always sabotage me!" Her voice grew scratchy, similar to Clover's voice when she couldn't cover up Brian's and she instantly knew who it was.

"Zephor? What the fuck, no I didn't know you were going to be here!" Clover was confused by that, suddenly feeling something take her arm and being flung across with her back making contact with the wall.

"You aren't going to ruin this for me _again_." Zephor hissed lowly, looking at Charlie of whom had no clue what was happening. It took a few moments to Clover to manage to stand up, being weakened even more so by her presence to where she collapsed again with blood being spat out.

Barbara had a small smirk on her face, not even having to get any closer to her to inflict anymore harm. Her ears were ringing and her eyes couldn't focus, giving the other demon a chance to take Charlie by the arm and pull him along without Clover's intervention.

She tried to say his name abut all that came out was a weak, strained whimper as she fell against the hardwood floor. Her vision fell to black as it wasn't possible for her to stay awake, unable to grasp what just occurred. That kiss lingered, but all it served to prove was that she'd stayed too long, become too attached.


	8. Chapter 8

It was silent, entirely so, Clover slowly opening her eyes which met her gaze with the ceiling. She could tell it was incredibly early in the morning, her mind having fogged considerably from what occurred just hours before.

"C-Charlie...Charlie!" Clover suddenly shrieked and abruptly sat up, knocking her head off of Mick's forehead.

"Fucking hell- Jesus Christ Clover, what's wrong with you?!" He raised his voice, rubbing the now throbbing pain on his forehead before Keith pushed him aside.

"Thank god you're awake, where the hell is Charlie?"

"Zephor- Barbara...she took him, oh my god I need to help him!" She spoke erratically, hardly able to string together a full sentence as she quickly stood but was just as quick to collapse right into Keith's arms.

"You aren't going anywhere, you're in no shape to-"

"I-I don't fucking care! I'm g-going to help h-him, with or _without_ your help, so p-put me down." Clover almost hissed, Keith pausing for a moment before he swept his arms under her legs to pick her up properly.

"Where are we going?" He almost reluctantly asked, ignoring Mick of whom was now quite angry with him for going along with Clover's potentially psychotic ramblings.

"Barbara's apartment...I-I know you've b-been." The demon mumbled as her voice was lowered greatly, letting out a small groan as the pair rushed out to his car.

"Get the fuck back here you idiot!" Mick screeched out of anger, Keith outright ignoring him as he set the weakened figure in the passenger seat, sliding over into the drivers' side and starting it up. The squealing of the wheels hurt Clover's ears quite a bit, but she shook it off as they sped off right towards her apartment. Luckily for her, Keith had been there before to drop off her camera and remembered the way there.

 

Charlie had Barbara laying in his arms rather awkwardly, the girl allowing her finger to trace circles around his chest slowly. He didn't want to say anything out of worry for what could happen to him, more importantly, what would happen to Clover if he protested. For the time being, he just didn't talk, until she broke that silence.

"Charlie, darling...you don't love Brian more than me do you?" Barbara asked gently, almost expecting the answer but rather, she didn't get one immediately.

"Eh...no I wouldn't say that- experimenting and whatnot, dear." He tried his best to not sound in the least bit terrified, but it was tarnished when his voice quivered in the middle of his sentence. It visibly upset her, Charlie swallowing hard at the realization of what he'd done. He never expected for her to turn out like this, she'd been so shy and very sweet towards him but what he was seeing was devilish. Evil, conniving...sadistic.

"You know I just want what's best for for, darling. I thought you _trusted_ me, being a couple is a partnership." The woman let out something of a growl, her hand now gripping firmly on his arm, too firmly.

"Barbs what the hell has gotten into you? You aren't acting like yourself." Charlie finally addressed the elephant in the room, but immediately regretted that decision as she got up with a loud scream, hands tugged at her short tresses of red hair.

"I'll kill her, I'm going to murder that stupid bitch, she knows better than to take something from me- she's not going to have you and I'm _not_ going to let her." Zephor suddenly started to ramble, shaking her head as she paced back and forth as if to keep her from doing something to Charlie. He shifted to the edge of the couch he'd been placed on hours previous, trying to be as casual as possible as he stood up.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water, okay?" He more so stated rather than asked, walking into the kitchen to do just that. When he got in, Charlie gazed out the window to see a familiar car parked far down in the parking lot adjacent to the complex, it was enough to get his hopes up just a tad. 

Keith had Clover's arm around him, holding her up as the were in the lift as the floor was too high up for Clover to walk. He didn't know what he was getting himself into, and he wasn't expecting someone to step in with them on the first and only stop aside from their destination. Bill, he'd gotten in when he didn't even live there, and he too seemed to be taken aback by their presence.

"Uh- what're you two doing here?" The dark haired man inquired but his question was shot down immediately by Keith, of whom asked the same thing.

"I should be asking you that, man, what the fuck are you doing here?!" He replied in a much more belligerent tone, Bill raising his hands in defense.

"Calm down will ya, Mick called me up and told me to go to Charlie's bird's place, yeah? Lay off."

"Well you shouldn't be here, this is a lot more confusing than you may think and I don't dig you potentially dying."

"Wow lookie here, Mr Richard has actually got a bit 'a feeling in him other than his _undying_ love for Mick Jagger- oh you're going to make me blush!"

"Fuck off will ya! I'm trying to keep you safe, I'm not fucking messing about!"

"Jesus, fine, I will, what's up with Brian anyway?" Bill took a glance at Clover, getting a growl from her.

"D-Don't fucking call me that..." She lowly spoke, not willing to waste any of her power shooing him away. He didn't appreciate her hostility but he didn't bring it up. Once the doors opened, the pair stepped out and Bill did as well, simply out of curiosity.

"I'll just check her place out with you guys, then I'll go."

"You really don't listen do you?" Keith retorted as he helped Clover along to her door, Apartment 109. The plate that was screwed to the door was now hanging on the last bolt, just about to fall off. Abruptly, Clover kicked the door practically off the hinges, it swinging open and smashing a picture that had been hung up beside the entrance. Zephor expected this, as the moment Keith stepped in, she grabbed him by the hair and ripped him away from the other demon, slamming his face into the wall. 

Bill looked over with wide eyes, catching Clover before she fell and making a dash for the kitchen and knocking into someone. Charlie grabbed him by the shoulders with a hand clamping over his mouth, shushing him quickly. He took a few steps back before moving his hand away, looking at him. 

"What's going on?" 

"Barbara- she's gone insane, s-she's going to kill someone!" Bill was very obviously terrified, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked around. "I have a bad feeling, Charlie." 

"Don't go out there, stay here with Clover and I'll go out there." He whispered back to him, glancing over at the open entrance before a loud shriek left Keith. Once again, Bill decided not to listen, shoving Clover into Charlie's arms and dashing out back into the living room. It happened far to quick for the man to stop him, only managing to yell his name. 

A loud thud was heard, knocking a picture off the wall with how hard the impact was as well as the scraping of dry wall. Charlie became frantic as he quickly lifted up Clover, darting to the door frame and his eyes were met with something quite awful. Barbara had driven a switchblade right into Bill's abdomen, lodging it into the wall as his forehead rested on her shoulder. She very slowly pulled the knife away, the eldest giving way with blood now soaking the white carpet as he was slumped over, hardly alive. 

"B-Barbara, wha- what the fuck did you _do_?" Charlie's voice shook, looking behind her at Keith of whom had a similar wound on his shoulder. He swallowed back his terror and took a step towards her. "What do you want out of all this?" 

Barbara slowly turned her now wine tinted gaze to him, eyes narrowed as she pointed her bloodied knife in his direction yet not at him. 

"Give me her, I want Zora." Her voice was dark and doubled over, like two were speaking at once. Charlie took a deep breath, looking her in the eyes before Keith raised his own voice. 

"C-Charlie, don't h-hand him over...f-for God's sake!" He projected across the room, before a pained groan left him. 

"If you don't hand her over, I'll kill him." Zephor turned the knife back to Keith with a slight tilt of the head. 

"I hand her over, what're you going to do with her?" 

"Send her back home, back to our father where she can't come back here again." She spoke lowly, drawing the knife down slowly to her side. "I won't kill Brian, that much I can promise." 

Charlie's eyes widened at that, realizing he could indeed keep his friend- no, his best friend, alive. He looked down at Clover, lips tightly pursed as he took note of how sickly she looked. If he brought Brian back, what was he to know how long he'd live after that, his health had been gradually declining and he was sure that it would be irreversible. With a light touch, he pressed his fingertips to her paled, chilled skin before looking at Barbara. 

"No." 

Zephor didn't like that answer, rather she lunged right at him rather than go for Keith. Luckily for him, a large glass lamp came to smash over her head, knocking her out cleanly. 

"Guess I came at a good time." Mick nervously chuckled, turning his attention to Keith, completely ignoring the deceased friend on the other side of the room. Charlie started hyperventilating, trembling as he came so close to dying in such a short amount of time. He stepped a ways back, holding the demon close to him as she stirred, trying to get up. 

"C-Clover-"

"P-Put...m-me down..." She mumbled, Charlie only then hesitantly setting her on her feet. It shocked him to see her pull the knife out of Bill, seeing as he'd been dead for a little while now, looking down at her. "You s-stupid...c-conniving bitch."

"Wait, Bri-" 

Clover knelt above her, taking the knife and repeatedly driving it into her back then out again in the messiest way possible which splattered blood all over her. Charlie repulsed in horror at the sight, Keith actually having to turn away for a moment to avoid looking at it. It felt like ages until she was done, shakily standing and dropping the knife drenched in her sister's blood.

Mick had his eyes narrowed, a sudden flare of anger in him as she slowly looked at Charlie. He recalled everything she'd put them through, what she caused of which left Bill dead. It was all _her_ fault.

"I-I want t-to go home C-Charlie." Clover weakly spoke, a look of defeat having washed over her face. The man walked over to a window, wrenching a window open before he turned to the woman, grabbing her by the hair. 

"Let's go on a little trip then." Mick lowly spoke as he tugged her roughly to the window, ignoring Charlie's yells of protest. 

"Mick don't you fucking dare!" He projected, quickly walking towards them but he didn't expect him to shove her out the window without a moment of hesitation. 

"Whoops." Mick flatly spoke, hearing the loud crash against the iron wrought fence far below. Charlie pushed him out of the way and looked down, tears not waiting a moment to pour from his eyes. 

A hand came to grip his arm tightly, as he shakily looked over his shoulder to meet Mick's gaze. 

"Wake up, Charlie." He gently spoke before he too, was shoved directly out the window. 

 

Rather than hitting the ground, he opened his eyes to a blurry whiteness surrounding him. Charlie let out a groan, as there was an elongated pain running up his spine. There was the noise of soft, gentle snoring from his left. Once his eyes had adjusted more, he made out contact with his left hand and a bit of pressure close to it. A deep breath was taken in, as his eyes had fully adjusted to the bright light.

A hospital room? He hadn't been to the hospital aside from the car accident, and he wasn't in the worst shape, it had been Keith and Brian who took the most damage. Brian had his lovely features scraped and doused in blood from the gashes from glass embedding into his flesh, and Keith had a concussion from hitting the dashboard, it knocked him right out. 

He pulled Brian out, he remembered it, but he lost his footing after he pulled Bill out and fainted for a little while. Hadn't he? 

The man stirred somewhat, shifting to a more upright position as heeled footsteps clicked down the hallway outside his room. When whoever it was came in, there was a loud, shocked gasp as Bill suddenly screamed that Charlie had woken up. 

"Oh my god Charlie, we'd thought we lost you!" He exclaimed in the happiest tone the other had heard in his life, a slight of a smile playing on his lips. 

"W-What...h-happened?" Charlie spoke in a strained voice, considering he hadn't spoken in almost two weeks. His gaze moved down to the sleeping form beside him, hand in hand with head on golden hair the only thing he could see. The other hand slowly moved to run his fingers through his soft locks, his smile growing wider as two other people entered. 

"Holy shit man, you're ok..." Keith laughed as if shocked at the revelation, walking closer with Mick trailing behind. 

"We were worried you wouldn't wake up, you four had quite the crash. Brian pulled you out the car despite having pretty bad head trauma." 

"S-Seriously?" 

"Yeah, he hasn't left since the hospital let him off." Keith explained, looking over at the man of whom was still asleep. Charlie looked back down at him, pulling his hand away. Drawing the other hand that was clasped with the other, he gently kissed the back of his hand. 

"I'm just h-happy what I imagined...w-wasn't real." 


End file.
